The trial of a Massachusetts woman accused of backing her SUV into her Boston police officer boyfriend and leaving him to die in the snow took an explosive turn this week as the lead investigator in the case was instructed to read aloud in court the vulgar, derogatory text messages hed sent about her.

State Police Trooper Michael Proctor, the investigator, was told Monday to read messages he exchanged with friends, relatives and co-workers about defendant Karen Read. Read, 45, is charged with second-degree murder, vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, and leaving the scene of a collision in the Jan. 29, 2022, death of John OKeefe, 46. Proctors testimony concluded on Wednesday, and the trial then turned to Massachusetts State Police Lt. Brian Tully.

Read has pleaded not guilty to all the charges and said in interviews that she does not recall what happened while she was behind the wheel.

Proctors testimony had been much anticipated by her vocal defenders. Many of them, loosely organized under the hashtag #FreeKarenRead, claim she is the victim of a vast conspiracy among corrupt state and local law enforcement officials who they say are trying to frame her for killing OKeefe a theory embraced by her defense team. Meanwhile, prosecutors have pushed back against the false narratives that they say have resulted in the harassment and intimidation of witnesses by Reads defenders, who include a controversial local blogger who is now himself facing criminal charges.